Osteochondral plugs can be used to treat cartilage defects in knee joints, hip joints, and ankle joints. For example, a recipient socket can be created in a bone to be treated and an osteochondral plug can be inserted in the recipient socket. The osteochondral plug can be harvested from a bone of a cadaver, e.g., a femur, a tibia, a fibula, etc. The osteochondral plug can be harvested by cutting the plug from the donor bone. To achieve the best results, the osteochondral plug should closely fit into the recipient socket. Further, the curvature of the upper surface of the plug should closely match the curvature of the bone into which the plug is installed. Obtaining a close match between the geometry of the plug and the geometry of the recipient socket and surrounding tissue can be difficult.
Accordingly, there is a need for a system and method for harvesting osteochondral plugs and creating recipient sockets.